Public health professionals frequently mention the 1998 tobacco settlement as an example of a lost opportunity to ensure that the settlement funds were used for public health purposes including tobacco use prevention and cessation programs. In many states, the settlement funds were used to fill state budget gaps and for other non-tobacco-related purposes and some public health officials are concerned that any funds recovered through opioid-related lawsuits may experience the same fate. This blog post from the Milbank Memorial Fund looks at how Minnesota used tobacco funds to create ClearWay Minnesota, a tobacco control nonprofit independent of state government, and offers recommendations for states on how to ensure opioid settlement dollars are used to address aspects of the opioid crisis.
Authors: A.W. St. Claire, A. Kintopf, D. Blanke, D. Willoughby
Funding Source: Milbank Memorial Fund
What States Preparing for Opioid Lawsuit Funds Can Learn from Tobacco Settlements?
A blog post offering lessons from the tobacco settlements for states considering how to spend opioid settlement dollars from the Milbank Memorial Fund.